STUDY SKILLS
PLACE OF STUDY
Where you study, and the conditions under which you
study have a considerable effect on how well you learn.
a)
Where to Study: Have a permanent
place for study, eg bedroom, sitting room etc. Keep all your books, pens,
mathematical instruments etc. here.
This reduces 'setting-up' time and helps to induce a frame of mind for
study. Avoid 'family' areas of the
house - these are often noisy and full of distractions. You are also less
likely to be able to leave work set up in these rooms.
b)
Lighting & Heating: Lighting should be appropriate: too much produces glare and too
little causes eye strain. Heating
should be comfortable without extremes.
c)
Ventilation: Ensure a fresh
flow of air into the room. Stuffy rooms produce drowsiness and headaches, which
reduce the effectiveness of your studying.
d)
Posture & Furniture: Generally it is best to study
on a firm-backed chair at a table or desk.
The two should match with regard to height so that writing and reading
can be done comfortably. Lying on the
bed or floor, or sitting in an armchair are not good positions for study,
especially if you have to write.
e)
Distractions Have a study area as free from noise and visual
distractions as possible - TV, radio, telephone, visitors. The room shouldn't
be too bleak though! Many students
prefer to study with music in the background; this can work although concentration
tends to suffer.
STUDY TIMES
It is
very easy to waste time. The efficient use of time is therefore an important
skill to learn, because it makes learning easier.
a)
When to Study: This varies from person to person but generally it is
best done when the subject-matter is still fresh in your mind and you are
alert. Therefore it follows that set homework should be done as soon as
possible after school, after a short break. Studying when you are tired is not
very efficient. Study no later than
10pm and relax before going to bed.
Try to
do some study every day of the week although it is good to have a break at
weekends, eg take Friday evening and either Saturday or Sunday off. Saturday morning is often a good time to get
some studying done.
Don't stop
studying altogether during holidays. A few short periods of revision during the
holidays will save time, effort and
worry when exams come around.
Be as
consistent as possible. Start study at the same time every day; regular study
times will help you to settle down to study quickly (no warm-ups!) and as a
result less time will be wasted.
b) How
long to Study: This varies from subject to subject and from person to
person. For Leaving Certificate students, the minimum amount of time spent on
homework should be about two hours per night and from 1½ to two hours for
revision. If less homework is set then more time can be put into revision. If
you miss out on study one night make it up on another occasion.
GETTING ORGANISED FOR STUDY
Introduction
You may
have a good place to study and a plan of study times, and yet you discover that
almost before you realise it, your time has passed. You look back trying to
remember what you have learned, only to find that it comes to very little. Why?
It is possible that the organization of your study time was poor.
If you
try to study, without a clear plan in mind and definite goals in view, the time
you spend studying will be wasted.
Planning
your Study Time
Plan
your study time; not only when you will study but also what and how
you will study. Make an effort to decide beforehand what you are going
to study during the time you have set aside.
Do not sit down to study and then try to decide what you should do.
Deciding what you will study, for example history, is a start, although it is
too general. It is better, to be more specific, for example, to review your
notes on ‘Home Rule’.
Setting
Goals
Plan
exactly how much you want to get done in the time available. This means you should set a goal for
each study period. Setting a goal is
more difficult than it seems though.
Do not set a goal that you cannot possibly reach as you will feel
dissatisfied and dispirited. It is
unlikely that you would be able to give a topic, such as ‘Home Rule’, which may
have taken up a week of history lessons in class, more than a brief and
superficial coverage in 15 minutes. You
will have, to work out for yourself how much you can cover in a given
length of time. This will depend or,
how fast you can read with comprehension, the difficulty of the material and,
how quietly you can organize your thoughts and write them down. Always try to meet your goals and
deadlines, as this will give you a sense of satisfaction. It you miscalculate and cannot meet a goal
do not become upset. The next time you
set yourself a goal take your past experience into account and plan
accordingly.
Breaks
in Your Study Time
It is a
well-known fact of learning that breaking up your study with rest periods
leads to better learning. Make your
basic study strategy to work for about half an hour, then take a break of
about five minutes. It is probably best to allot at least one hour for
study, breaking at the half-hour point for five minutes. During break get up, walk around and have
a breath of fresh air. You should
relax and forget about your books for a short while. Whatever you do, do not study for more than two hours without
a break of about half an hour. Long periods of study without breaks will leave
you feeling tired, and result in comparatively little being learned.
The
Subjects You Should Study
As with
most people, there are probably subjects that you either like more or find
easier than others. It is these that you will probably be tempted to spend most
of your time studying. But, learning
more and more about one or two subjects at the expense of others is futile. Even it you have no wish to study certain
subjects, you will have to in the end.
Putting off study only makes it all the more difficult when the day of
reckoning comes.
How can
you make yourself work on disliked subjects? Well you could either force
yourself by sheer willpower or you could try one of the three methods suggested
here:
(a) The
Premack Principle
You like
Studying subject A, but hate studying subject B. The idea Of the Premack
Principle is that you deny yourself the enjoyment of studying subject A until
you have done some work on subject B. Begin with only a few minutes work on
subject B before changing to subject A. then gradually increase the time. In this way, studying subject B becomes less
distasteful because of the comparatively enjoyable event that occurs after it,
ie. studying Subject A. If you dislike study of all school subjects
you must find another way of rewarding yourself for studying them, for example,
by letting yourself watch TV, by reading a magazine, or by socializing. The basic principle is to reward yourself
for doing something you consider unpleasant.
(b)
Very the Order in Which You Study Subjects
Probably
you leave the study of subjects you dislike till to last, when you are
tired. Consequently, you learn little.
Draw up a programme of study in which you vary the order of order of study
for each subject. On some nights
plan to work on the disliked subject first. By studying the disliked subject
when you are fresh, your learning will be more effective. As you come to know
more about your disliked subject, you may begin to find it more interesting.
(c)
Programme a Time and Keep to It
Another
way of ensuring you study a disliked subject is to set time aside for it,
the same amount of time that you spend on other subjects. Initially spend this time
reading about the subject or just trying to do examples. Do not worry about how much you have
learned. Once you are in the habit of spending time on this subject you can
begin to measure how much you have learned in each session.
How
Much Time for Each Subject?
Ideally,
you should spend an equal amount of time on each subject. However, you may find that because you have
neglected a certain subject, or because you find it more difficult, you may
need to spend more time on it. If you do give more time to a certain subject
make sure you do not neglect the other subjects. Ensure the time you
spend studying any subject does not fall below 21/2-3 hours a week. If there is
a backlog of work on a certain subject to be caught up with find the time by
increasing the total amount of time you spend studying rather than reducing the
time you spend on other subjects.
Different
Ways for Different Subjects
You
cannot study in exactly the same way for different subjects. It is, however, not possible to consider all
the ways of studying every subject in this article: you will have to do some
thinking of your own on this. Some of
the ways you can study are discussed together with two common principles which
apply to study for all subjects.
The two general rules that apply to all subjects, are:
(a) Concentrate
on general ideas rather than specific facts. This will lead to a greater understating of the subject than the
mere memorizing of facts will achieve. Moreover,
it you concentrate on the general ideas, you will find it easier to learn and
remember the facts which support these ideas.
So always look for the general idea within each topic.
(b) Keep
up to date. This is possibly the
most important rule of learning. If you
allow yourself to get behind in learning what you need to know in any subject
you will soon find it almost impossible to catch up. There are two main reasons for this: firstly, the larger the backlog of things you must study, the
less willing you will be to tackle it; secondly, as most subjects rely on
what you already know to help you learn the next step if you do not keep up
you will find it harder and harder to understand what you are being taught.
History
and English
These subjects
require a great deal of reading and note-taking is very
important. Concentrate on book-reading skills and using the structure of books
to help prepare notes. You should also
be prepared to make summaries and charts to aid your understanding. You will need to read more than just your
textbooks to succeed in these subjects. For example, in English, if you are to
read a novel by a particular author for study in class, read something else
he/she has written to get another view of his/her work.
Mathematics
Mathematics,
by contrast, is a subject that probably requires less note-taking than any
other subject. But, because it is
ordered in a hierarchical fashion, that is, each topic builds on previous topics,
you must understand every step in the chain before going on to the next. If anything is unclear, clarify it before
attempting the next step, otherwise you will quickly become overwhelmed.
Two
ways to make sure you understand each step are: (i) Ask questions in class when you are unsure about
something, and (ii) Do as many practice
problems as you can. Successfully
completing practice problems as you go will reduce anxiety at exam time.
Foreign
Languages
The study
of other languages requires a different technique again. As with mathematics there is less need for
detailed notes but grammatical rules, vocabulary and phrases are very
important. Repetition and practice
are essential. However, remember that
copying out lists of words is not as effective as actively trying to put your
thoughts and conversation into the foreign language, and naming objects or
describing actions in your environment.
The best way to learn how to use a foreign language is to make it relevant
to your own life. Use the foreign
words and describe your own world rather than relying on disjointed lists of
words and rules.
Organisation
of the Materials Needed for Study
You
will not be making the best use of your study time if you spend part of it
looking for the things you want to use.
Much time can be wasted looking for a pen or a pencil, a book that
has been carelessly covered by a magazine, and so on.
Even
more time can be lost if your notebooks and folders are untidy and
disorganized. Having to search for
notes that are important to your study is both frustrating and a waste of
time. It is best if you keep the
notes for each subject separate, Never write notes for different subjects
on the same sheet of paper; this is certain to lead to confusion and difficulty
in finding the material you need. It is also useful to 'flag' topics in your
subject folders for rapid location of your notes. Tape a piece of Firm paper with the topic name written on it to
the first page of notes on that topic, so that it sticks out past the edge of
the pages. Start by putting these
'flags' at the top of the page and staggering them so they can all be seen at
once. Now your notes on any topic can
be found quickly.
Completing
an Assignment
Many of
the tasks you do will be in the nature of assignments that must be handed in to
your teacher at a particular time.
There are a few basic principles that you should follow in completing
assignments. These are:
(a) Make
sure you know exactly what your teacher wants. Try to remove any doubts from your mind
about what you are to do by finding out from the most reliable source - your
teacher. Relying on other pupils to
clarify your misunderstandings might be useful, but you will need to be sure
that they know exactly what is required.
They may be as confused as you are,
(b) The
accurate completion of assignments is vital because work you do during the year
is becoming more and more important in deciding whether you pass or fail
examinations. Whenever possible find a
model of what is required and use it as a guide. Your teacher may provide you with one. If your assignment does not receive high marks ask your teacher
what a model answer would have been like.
(c) The preparation
phase of an assignment is at least as important as the final
production. The necessary steps in
preparing a written report are:
(i) Carefully read the question and identify
the problem.
(ii)
Plan so you can finish the assignment on time.
(iii) Make
an outline of what you want to write.
(iv) Write
a 'rough' draft, this will help make the final copy more presentable.
(v) Read
over your 'rough' draft and make any changes that are required.
(vi)
Write out your final copy.
Neat handwriting
will help your teacher understand what you have written. The planning, outline and drafts you
prepared earlier will help make your presentation more concise and logical.
Summary
This
article has suggested ways in which you can organize your study time and
increase your learning efficiency. It
would be useful to you it before you begin to study, you posed the following
questions to yourself:
(a)
What subjects have I planned to study today? (This information will come from
your study plan.)
(b)
What topics of these subjects will I study?
(c)
What do I want to achieve today?
(d)
Have I got all the equipment, books, notes, etc., that I need?
(e) Am
I putting off the study of any particular topic or subject?
(f) If I
have an assignment to do, do I know exactly what I'm expected to do?
If you
can give satisfactory answers to these six questions, then you are well on the
way to a productive study session.
OVERALL SUMMARY
·
Don't be
over-ambitious. Set realistic goals
·
Remember, it is never too
late to start!
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